Although
I live in the State of New York, which is so different from the vast
open prairies of Montana and Wyoming where my story A FIND THROUGH TIME
takes place, I have always loved the West and the people whose struggles
and perseverance has had such a great impact on our lives today. If
not for those first pioneers who traveled across our great continent
in search of a new life, if not for the people who fought for what they
believed in, who struggled to preserve their way of life and sacrificed
everything in the name of progress, we would not have moved on to become
the society we are today. It is from their blood, sweat, accomplishments
and sometimes their deaths that we have learned and grown. I hope you
enjoy reading A FIND THROUGH TIME as much as I enjoyed living it though
the eyes of Two Moons, Roy and Gabrielle.

Marianne
Petit is Vice President of the Long Island Chapter of the Romance
Writers Of America and is a member of the New York City RWA Chapter.
Her love of writing stems back to high school. She spent hours reading
Nancy Drew, Alfred Hitchcock and poetry. At the age of fifteen she
wrote a short story for children, as well as numerous works of poetry.
Her love of history stems from her father, Roger, a Frenchman, whose
love of American history greatly influenced her writing interests
.

She is a member of the Melville Lions club, a service organization
that raises money for the less fortunate - especially the sight and
hearing impaired. She was recently elected to the Board of Directors.

When she's not writing, Marianne works with her husband in his chiropractic
office. She loves to ski, raft, horseback ride, and enjoys the theater.
Marianne lives on Long Island with her two teenage sons and she is
happily married for 21 years.

An Interview with Marianne Petit

PNR:Marianne, A Find Through Time is your first time travel novel.
What do you think is the appeal of this paranormal sub-category?

Marianne
P:Despite
what the big houses, at this time, are saying, people love time travels;
I think in part because not only are they a combination of a contemporary
and a historical, (in my case), but the idea of traveling in time
is intriguing.

PNR:
Your heroine is a perfect candidate for time travel. She is emotionally
isolated?

Marianne
P:She
is emotionally overwhelmed by her mother, her job and her love life
and wants desperately to get away from everything and everyone.

PNR:Though
Gabrielle Camden isn't interest in any kind of relationship with a
man, someone is very much interested in her. Tell us about Roy Prescott.

Marianne
P:Roy
is really a sweet heart, who is trying to change his ways and put
his past behind him. He's cleaned up his act and wants a second chance
in life.

PNR:How
does Gabrielle's occupation lead to her time travel experience? What
is the significance of the place and time she has traveled to, and
why did you choose it?

Marianne
P:She
is a forensic artist who reconstructs a skull found at an archeological
dig site. When she goes back to the site to look for more clues as
to who the person was, she is sent back in time when she climbs into
the hole where the body was found. My idea for this story came from
a documentary on TV about a skull found in the fields of the Battle
of The Little Bighorn and the idea intrigued me. Although the skull
from the documentary was that of a soldier who fought that day, my
love of the Native American culture, led me to tell their side of
the story and I decided to make the skull that of a Native American
woman.

PNR:Gabrielle's experience could be called reincarnation
in reverse. She finds herself in the body of her find, a half Native
American female?

Marianne
P:Yes, the skull she reconstructs
turns out the be in her image.

PNR:She is discovered by Two Moons, a Lakota
warrior. He distrusts her instantly. Why?

Marianne
P:When Gabby goes
back, she is in the body of a Crow woman. The Crow are the hated enemy
of the Sioux. Plus, since it is said that the eyes are the "window
of our souls," her eyes remain blue, thus she is half white,
and he hates the white man more than the Crow.

PNR:
How does an independent 21st century woman cope with her treatment
at the hands of Two Moon's people?

Marianne
P:Well, not easily. The fact that she is used
to living and working from one archeological dig site to another and
living out doors, helps, but she does miss her comforts. Being interested
in relics from past societies also helps, because now, living in the
past, seeing things first hand, she is excited to learn about a culture
she could only read about.

PNR:In
spite of his reservations, Two Moons is very attracted to the woman
he calls Blue Eyes. What does she do to win his respect?

Marianne
P:He
admires her spirit, her independence and that she challenges him.
Then, she earns, not only his respect, but his people's, when she
does a courageous act.

PNR:What
is Roy's reaction to Gabrielle's disappearance? How does he deal with
it?

Marianne
P:Although
he doesn't know that she disappeared and is told that she is away
doing research, his gut instinct tells him that she is in danger,
so he goes out to find her.

PNR:An
obvious advantage of being from the future is knowing what will occur
in the past. How does Gabrielle feel about using this knowledge?

Marianne
P:She
is torn between warning his people about the battle and changing history.

PNR:What
does Gabrielle ultimately gain from her experience?

Marainne
P:The
love of her soul mate. An understanding about a past occurrence. A
renewed understanding about mother/daughter relationships and she
learns a family secret.

PNR:Do
you plan to write additional time travel romances in the future? What
is next for Marianne Petit?

Marianne
P:I'd
love to write another time travel, in fact I do have one started that
takes place during the discovery of gold in CA. But, time travels
are a hard sell right now, so I'm working on a contemporary, suspense,
that leads to murder. I also have a historical set in Virginia in
the late 1700s finished, which I am trying to sell.

A FIND THROUGH
TIME - Struggling with severed family ties and a love life gone
sour, forensic artist Gabrielle Camden immerses herself in sculpting
the face of a young Native American woman whose parallel life takes
her on an incredible journey back in time to Custer's Last Stand.

The path leads
her deep into the heart of the Sioux nation and into the arms of a Lakota
warrior named Two Moons.

Gabrielle
must reconcile her life on the plains with the one she left behind and
the man who awaits her return. But before she can give her love to one
man, she must lose the love of another.